London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 18, 2026

Junior doctors in England to strike for three days in June

Junior doctors in England to strike for three days in June

Junior doctors in England have announced a new 72-hour walkout in June after the latest round of government pay talks broke down.
The strike will take place between 07:00 on Wednesday 14 June and 07:00 on Saturday 17 June.

The British Medical Association (BMA) union, which represents doctors and medical students, said a government offer of a 5% rise was not "credible".

Ministers said pay talks could only continue if the strike was called off.

A government spokesperson called the new pay offer "fair and reasonable", and said it was "surprising and deeply disappointing" that the BMA had declared further strikes "while constructive talks were ongoing".

The BMA said it was willing to continue talks, and was hoping for a "credible offer" from the government.

This will be the third strike by junior doctors since the pay dispute began.

The BMA said strikes would take place "throughout summer" if the government did not change its position, with a minimum of three days of walkouts a month until its mandate expires in August.

The union has been asking for a 35% increase to make up for 15 years of below-inflation rises.

Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee, said the BMA had had three weeks of negotiations with the government but that ministers would not recognise "the scale of our pay erosion", which they said was equivalent to a 26% cut over the last 15 years.

This is the amount pay has fallen once inflation is taken into account, the BMA says.

NHS Providers, a membership organisation for NHS services, said the strikes would cause "major disruption" and it was "vital serious talks take place between the government and unions" to resolve the dispute.

Deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery said: "We understand junior doctors feel they've been pushed to this point by factors including below-inflation pay uplifts and severe staffing shortages."

Last month, unions representing most - although not all - staff on one key type of NHS contract did agree to the government's latest pay offer of a 5% pay rise and a one-off payment of at least £1,655.

That did not cover doctors or dentists but did include many paramedics, physios, cleaners and porters - although members of both the nurses' union, the Royal College of Nurses (RCN), and Unite, which represents some ambulance staff, voted against it.

The government had been in talks with junior doctors in a bid to avert a third round of strike action after previous walkouts in March and April.

The language from the BMA and the government suggests both sides are a long way from agreement, with union representatives saying ministers will not accept the "fundamental reality" of the situation.

At the same time, their more senior colleagues - consultant doctors - are being balloted separately on industrial action in a vote which runs through until 27 June.

Junior doctors make up around half of all hospital doctors in England and a half of all GPs. The BMA represents over 46,000 junior doctors in the UK.

In Scotland, junior doctors have been offered a new 14.5% pay rise over a two-year period after negotiations with the Scottish government.

BMA Scotland said it would now consult its members, who voted in favour of strike action earlier this month, on the offer.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
For 36 Years, He Scammed About 300 Luxury Hotels — Until He Was Caught
England's World Cup Exit Expected to Cost Hospitality and Retail £334 Million
Former ICC Prosecutor Aide Speaks Publicly About Allegations Against Karim Khan
Opposition Raises Questions Over June Heatwave Power Grid Pressures
Mastercard Explores Sale of Majority Stake in UK Payments Operator Vocalink
Boeing Forecasts Global Commercial Aircraft Fleet Will Double by 2045
London GP Surgeries Receive £18 Million to Expand Primary Care Capacity
Health Advisers Recommend Nationwide Meningitis B Vaccination for Teenagers
OECD Warns UK Economy Faces Slower Growth and Weak Productivity
Treasury Places Major Global Cloud Providers Under Direct Financial Oversight
Financial Markets Rally as Shabana Mahmood Emerges as Leading Treasury Candidate
Incoming Government Prepares Thames Water Nationalisation and New North Sea Drilling Approvals
UK Government Plans Deep Cuts to Bilateral Aid for African Nations
United States and Iran Exchange Direct Strikes for Seventh Consecutive Night
Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham Confirmed as Labour Leader Ahead of Downing Street Handover
Britain Nationalises British Steel to Protect Scunthorpe Production and Strategic Supply
Andy Burnham Takes Labour Leadership and Prepares to Become Britain’s Seventh Prime Minister in a Decade
Tech Companies Want to Move Computing Off Your Screen and Onto Your Body
White House Teleprompter Operator Earned More Than $100,000 From Bets Linked to the President's Speeches
French Prime Minister Survives No-Confidence Vote After Controversial Budget Cuts
European Commission Opens Excessive Deficit Procedure Against France
French Senate Blocks Key Immigration Reform Measures
French Government Pushes EU Action Against Ultra-Fast Fashion Imports
French Parliament Debates Expanded Autonomy Powers for Corsica
France Reopens Autonomy Talks With New Caledonia After Months of Unrest
Bordeaux Wine Producers Seek Three Hundred Million Euro Aid Package After Export Collapse
French Farmers Block Spain Border Crossings Over Imported Food Competition
Cannes Film Festival Bans Fully Artificial Intelligence-Generated Films From Competition
TotalEnergies Shifts More Than Three Billion Euros of Green Investment From Europe to the United States
LVMH Chief Executive Bernard Arnault Presents Succession Plan for Luxury Empire
Kering Reports Fifteen Percent Revenue Drop as Chinese Luxury Demand Weakens
Sanofi Reports Positive Results From Messenger RNA Respiratory Vaccine Trials
France Places Energy Price Caps Under Review to Protect Households Through Winter
EDF Connects Two New Nuclear Reactors to France’s Electricity Grid
Mistral Secures European Commission Contract for Sovereign Artificial Intelligence Models
Renault Opens Next-Generation Electric Battery Plant in Northern France
Air France Signs Two Billion Euro Sustainable Aviation Fuel Deal to Cut Emissions
Marseille Launches Three Billion Euro Port Expansion to Strengthen Mediterranean Trade Role
French-Owned Ubisoft Announces Global Restructuring With Nearly One Thousand Job Cuts
National Railway Operator Suspends Artificial Intelligence Ticket Pricing System After Consumer Backlash
United Kingdom to Ban Sales of High-Caffeine Energy Drinks to Under-Sixteens
Home Office Designates Iranian and Russian Paramilitary Groups as National Security Threats
National Health Service Launches Housing Plan to Retain London Healthcare Workers
British Heatwave Fuels Wildfires and Emergency Evacuations in Scotland
United Kingdom and Estonia Sign Defence Agreement to Strengthen NATO’s Eastern Flank
United Kingdom Cuts Bilateral Aid to African Nations by More Than Eighty Percent
Bank of England Overhauls Banking Rules to Encourage More Lending to Businesses
United Kingdom and India Free Trade Agreement Enters Into Force, Reshaping Bilateral Economic Ties
Andy Burnham Confirmed as New Labour Leader and Prime Minister-Designate
UK Government Faces Pressure Over Extreme Heat Workplace Rules
×